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No, it's an RTS alright. People will say it's its own genre or it's a roguelike ship management lol hybrid! game, but when it comes down to it, when you look at how you control your units and the game it really is an RTS, just one where all the mechanics are simplified (and simplified equally). I don't see at all how that is missing the point of the game.

(Also, putting it into the roguelike genre, wrongly, would be even less favorable to the game. Where ADOM is an epos, FTL would be merely a verse, and not even a remarkable one).

Originally Posted by OrangyTang

This may be what you're doing wrong. You've got to milk each system for as many waypoints (ie. chances of loot) as possible. If you just make a beeline for the exit you'll have no scrap and no loot. Figuring out a good route is half the game - do I divert via that nebula for potential risky battle but slow down the fleet advance? Do I go direct to the store or go via a couple of extra nodes to try and pick up more scrap, even though I'm down to 40% health? Can I risk going for the wayward quest node, even if that means letting the fleet overtake me for a couple of jumps?

No, I understand that. Still taking this into account it's just not enough meaningful choice. The optimal thing to do is just too obvious and the rest too random.

Edit: I have to say though that maybe the first hour or two of playing the game are pretty interesting, when you still see events for the first time and still experiment with weapon systems. I was glued to the screen even! But those first couple of runs are it. That's all the game has to offer content-wise, even if you unlock more ships it's in the end just a different coat of paint, just a slightly different way to kill enemies. And there's nothing wrong with that, even. You can always get at least a bit of joy out of simple games.

Just because you order little men with health bars around doesn't mean it's a strategy game. I'm fairly sure that the genre 'strategy' is not applicable to a game that has you control what's basically a single combat unit that fights other combat units in instanced battles. The enemy combat units don't even communicate and, indeed, don't act as if they belong to any faction. It's fragmented, random, and completely incoherent were it not for the flavor text.

Edit: I have to say though that maybe the first hour or two of playing the game are pretty interesting, when you still see events for the first time and still experiment with weapon systems. I was glued to the screen even! But those first couple of runs are it.

I disagree, I've been glued to it non-stop. FTL isn't something I'll be giving much thought to a couple of weeks from now, but it does offer enough variety and openness for users to generate their own unique stories at a basic level. And what's more, I want the rest of those ships. Especially the Mantis cruiser, with 4 teleport pads. Oh yeah.

Now Space Pirates Vs Zombies is a game I grew bored of in a single day. It had nothing to offer me.

Oh man the Basilisk is a beast (the 4-pad Mantis cruiser). Just had my best run yet in that thing, though very nearly lost to the boss' second stage, had to run away and repair once.

Ended up almost fully upgraded, using Burst Laser III and Glaive Beam for weaponry (found both of those in sector 7, having had a shitty weapon run for the rest of the time). Managed to get myself to that critical 4 Mantis crew member point around sector 4 or so, had to partially rely on the Boarding Drone until then, in fact spent about 5 sectors with nothing that could damage shields and about the first 3 with no weapons at all. Unmanned enemies were a right pain in the arse, had to run from a couple; manned enemy ships on the other hand were a laughable pushover.

Saying this game is 60% luck probably shows why you dont like it. Its not the fact that you are dealt cards, its how you play them that makes the game. It is about managment, and strategy. For instance, you come across a weapons merchant offering to sell you a weapon for 65 scrap. Screw that, you say! Blow him up. And it turns out he had rockets installed, and bypass your 4 shields and costs you so much you lose soon after. Damn random battles!

What you could do instead is look at the weapons systems he has. Maybe you have 4 ships, and dont want to fight missiles. Or maybe this game you have a drone reconvery arm and defence drones to shoot them down. Or a fast ion gun, or 4 of them.

Its how you play with what you have. I wouldnt be so quick to dismiss it because it contains elements of chance.

So far I've only managed to unlock the Engi ship for getting to sector 5 and the Zoltan, although I'm sure I've missed 1-2 opportunities to get the unknown one in the bottom right, kicked myself for that.

Its a brilliant game though, and I'm glad to see its gotten a lot of exposure, I don't normally play games like this but I've been hooked on it so far.

I feel like I played the prequel to Firefly yesterday. Due to incompetence on my part I was in a tricky situation. Half my ship was on fire, the other half in vacuum with no possibility to close the doors (since the controls were one of the rooms on fire). My ship could barely escape. I lost the battle and the war.

Just got a nice glaive beam to use with my preigniter, this is going to be nice.
EDIT: I'm fully repaired, with a full crew, two of them rocks. I've got burst laser mk III, glaive laser and preigniter. Full shields. A defense droid mk II. 45% dodge chance. And I've just preemptively depleted the oxygen from any room without people in it.
I'm about to face off against the final stage of the boss. And I feel ready.
EDIT2: I was ready.

Just won for the second time, picking up the Mantis and Zolton ships along the way! Obtaining the Mantis ship is kinda annoying because you need a certain arrangement of upgraded systems, some way of killing all the enemy crew without destroying a ship, and an actual Mantis crewmember. It's all so... specific. The Zolton ship is easy.

Saying this game is 60% luck probably shows why you dont like it. Its not the fact that you are dealt cards, its how you play them that makes the game. It is about managment, and strategy. For instance, you come across a weapons merchant offering to sell you a weapon for 65 scrap. Screw that, you say! Blow him up. And it turns out he had rockets installed, and bypass your 4 shields and costs you so much you lose soon after. Damn random battles!

What you could do instead is look at the weapons systems he has. Maybe you have 4 ships, and dont want to fight missiles. Or maybe this game you have a drone reconvery arm and defence drones to shoot them down. Or a fast ion gun, or 4 of them.

Once I had the preigniter and the 15% less charge time together. Usually that means two full volleys before the enemy ship can even get off a shot.

Add in also a fully upgraded cloaking device and the subsystem that allows you to fire without penalty from cloak. Now we're talking 3 volleys.

Originally Posted by Drake Sigar

Just won for the second time, picking up the Mantis and Zolton ships along the way! Obtaining the Mantis ship is kinda annoying because you need a certain arrangement of upgraded systems, some way of killing all the enemy crew without destroying a ship, and an actual Mantis crewmember. It's all so... specific. The Zolton ship is easy.

Actually you don't need the Mantis crew member to grab the Mantis ship. I found that out when I got it, you just need the teleporter/medbay requirements and of course to disable but not destroy the ship.

Just won for the second time, picking up the Mantis and Zolton ships along the way! Obtaining the Mantis ship is kinda annoying because you need a certain arrangement of upgraded systems, some way of killing all the enemy crew without destroying a ship, and an actual Mantis crewmember. It's all so... specific. The Zolton ship is easy.

I was lucky to get the Mantis ship as well, on my very first run with the 'Shivan' alternate Rock ship layout. At one point I had seven rockmen on my crew, so a teleporter was imperative. One rockman winked out of existence when I encountered the monolith, but he was quickly replaced by a stranded zoltan that I was able to save with my upgraded medbay.

The same upgraded medbay, combined with the upgraded sensors, a teleporter and a veritable mountain of rockmen to send through it, made defeating the Mantis pirate captain and getting his ship trivially easy. Then he joined my crew, but sadly he met his demise on a boarding attempt shortly after, because I forgot that mantises are actually inflammable. I get a bit too fire-bomb-happy when I have nothing but rockmen running around on the enemy ship.

I was given a weapon pre-igniter as well, as a reward for having my rockman extinguishing a fire on a space station. So my routine became thus: FTL jump in, fire an ion blast I to weaken the shields, fire a shield-piercing laser (that thing is sweeeet) to take out the weapons, launch a fire bomb to lure the enemy crew into one room, then teleport two rockmen into that room to beat them into a pulp while they're burning to death. If there's a medbay, firebomb that as well. Almost nothing could resist, until I started fighting ships with three blips of shields, which meant I was taking a fair beating before being able to kill the enemy crew.

On my previous run with the Bulwark, I learned that small bombs are absolutely devastating against crew. The description doesn't tell you that, it just says it damages systems, not hull. So is your boarding party having problems with the crew because they keep healing up in their medbay? Toss a small bomb in there while they're healing, and on the off chance it doesn't kill them immediately, the medbay will be disabled and your crew can move in to finish them off.

The type A Mantis ship is hard! There's the standard two teleporters and really weak weapons, so at the start it's tough fighting any ship without taking damage.

Originally Posted by LTK

I was given a weapon pre-igniter as well, as a reward for having my rockman extinguishing a fire on a space station. So my routine became thus: FTL jump in, fire an ion blast I to weaken the shields, fire a shield-piercing laser (that thing is sweeeet) to take out the weapons, launch a fire bomb to lure the enemy crew into one room, then teleport two rockmen into that room to beat them into a pulp while they're burning to death. If there's a medbay, firebomb that as well.

Oh gods I never thought about having a fire weapon setup with rockmen boarders. That is fucking awesome. Not sure why I didn't think of that, I love the various non-destructive means of taking enemy ships out.